Today's Legion news covers additional Artifact Weapon Styles, including an Overwatch-inspired Paladin set, a closer look at the new Flail artifact models, raid testing encounters for April 4th, and an update on Magni Bronzebeard.

Legion Alpha coverage continues with videos of new Artifact Weapon models including a lightning-themed Doomhammer offhand, and the armored Horse2 mounts. We also have screenshots of the new elven-themed zone Azsuna and information on the two raid bosses up for testing tomorrow.

Blizzard just posted two important news stories. First off, they have a very in-depth interview about the raids in Mists of Pandaria. There are some important tidbits shared in this discussion:

Mogu’shan Vaults will be the first raid and it will probably be delayed up to a week on release, so there is less pressure to hit level cap as a raider.

The other two raids will unlock weeks after Vaults to give raiders even more time acclimate.

Lore has been really thought out this time around. The instances should ideally flow into each other, as opposed to back in WotLK where they felt so jarringly different. For example, you'll fight the Sha of Fear at the end of one raid only to have her flee to the next.

The raid rewards players with items with the following item levels: item level 476 for Raid Finder, 489 for normal mode, and 502 for Heroic.

We've been holding off on posting the encounter journals and loot tables until they've gotten more filled out. Last Friday's patch, however, seems to have added a lot of data: there are loot tables and a lot more abilities added! The only journals that seem incomplete are the world bosses, which makes sense as they are probably deciding what mounts and rare items to assign them.

Be sure to check out each bosses and their back stories as well--Hoptallus is by far the most menacing of this expansion!

Raids

Straddling the mountain range between the Jade Forest and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, the Terrace of Endless Spring has been a sacred refuge for millennia. Its peaceful fountains are said to have the power to heal and rejuvenate, but when the Sha of Fear attacked, many of the complex's guardians turned on each other in fits of terror.

Reins of the Crimson Pandaren Phoenix is the model used for the "Pandaren Phoenix" Challenge Mode mount reward, and it's now automatically learned by all players on beta. The animations seem a bit rushed so far, but it's always nice to see a new model instead of a reskinned mount. We recently datamined four colors of this mount model, which we've included below too: click on the images to view them in our 3D Model Viewer!

There's been a lot of Mists of Pandaria raid testing lately and today we have two more previews for you: a video by Lore of Protectors of the Endless and screenshots of Elegon, a celestial dragon reminiscent of Algalon.

In today's news round up, there are even more Ghostcrawler posts on class balance that we've organized by class after the cut, clarifications on challenge mode gear scaling, and a large debate on the quality, difficulty, and quantity of available 4.3 content.

Video Preview: Protectors of the Endless

Learn all about the Protectors of the Endless with Lore's video taken from beta testing yesterday! This encounter requires players to kill three corrupted Jinyu bosses with different sets of abilities. We have the full Encounter Journal toggled below the video.

In today's news round up, we've got visual previews of the Mogu and Mantid raid bosses open for testing on beta! We also have the corresponding Encounter Journals toggled for all featured bosses.

As far as blue posts, Ghostcrawler has answered many more questions on the Beta Class Balance Analysis thread, which we've organized by topic, as well as clarified PvP Power. Blizzard also announced the release of the latest Warcraft book, Tides of War, which focuses on Jaina Proudmoore, and did a summer spotlight on Blackrock Mountain.

Imperial Vizier Zor'lok

Zor'lok shrieks his proclamations so they're heard throughout the sprawling mantid palace. He is the Voice of the Empress, and his words alone inspire the insectoid race's warriors to give their lives without question. Unwaveringly loyal, Zor'lok will stop at nothing to defend his beloved matriarch, regardless of the corruption within her. [/screensho

In today's news round up, Blizzard confirmed that UI addons will be enabled in the next beta build, and that many expensive and multi-seat mounts like Reins of the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth will be account-wide in Mists of Pandaria--great news for players that purchased mounts and then switched mains! We also have some new posts from Ghostcrawler from the Beta Class Balance Analysis thread, this time on Moonkins, Hunters, and Ignite-like mechanics, as well as a preview of the new TCG set.

In addition, we have a preview of the Mogu'Shan Vaults raid testing from June 25th, as well as the Encounter Journal. If you're interested in trying out these raids, you'll have to level up to 90 yourself instead of waiting for premades--Blizzard stated yesterday that they won't be available anytime soon. There are two more bosses scheduled for testing today as well.

Raid Testing

On June 25th, both Gara'jal the Spiritbinder and The Spirit Kings were open for testing in Mogu'shan Vaults. We were able to test The Spirit Kings and have the the full Encounter Journal for both bosses in 10-player mode (with some heroic abilities) under the cut.

The Spirit Kings is a council-style boss, with four Mogu enemies. You fight them one at a

Escalating tensions between the Alliance and Horde have broken out into open warfare. The roar of cannons blacken the sky while naval engagements around the globe fill the seas with blood. As the clash of mortal armies spins the world into chaos, a continent -- once shielded by impenetrable mists -- suddenly manifests itself in the southern oceans. There’s no question that this resource-rich new land will be at the center of a global conflict. Will the Mists of Pandaria part to reveal Azeroth’s salvation? Or will this new battlefield become the flashpoint that pushes the Alliance and Horde over the brink into

It has taken its time, but 4.3.2 is finally hitting servers this week!

A controversial patch, this one introduces gradually scaling zone buffs to Dragon Soul that recall back to the ones Icecrown Citadel had--a 5% buff will be added to the instance for raids who which to take advantage of it. There are also several encounter specific nerfs that aim to allow different raid compositions for the instance's final heroic modes and several class balance tweaks.

As Blizzard has said prior, this will be the last patch of Cataclysm before a pre-Mists of Pandaria world event, so this patch also marks the beginning of the end for this expansion!

<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="detail"><p>During the scheduled server maintenance on the week of January 31, the Dragon Soul raid will become enveloped by the “Power of the Aspects” spell, reducing the health and damage dealt of all enemies in the raid by 5%. This spell will grow progressively stronger over time to reduce the difficulty and make